# CA High-Speed Rail CEO FLEES Cameras Over Wasted Millions!

An episode of [The John Phillips Show](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/824357555), 12 Oct 2026, 38 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/a7b0bd27-d748-4fbe-ab3b-a6fa0049bcf6/0076a807-9574-43be-bae7-a8a2014f87a8/3f155387-dcbe-4cdb-b4d1-b4e1018823cb/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=48e64230-43b5-49cc-a7e6-a9cf0008ea47

Watch The John Phillips Show LIVE from 12-3 PDT At http://johnnydontlike.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Some might label us right wing.
[0:03] Speaker 2: We say clip our wings and just call us right.
[0:08] Speaker 3: It's the John Phillips Show.
[0:12] Speaker 1: And a very happy Monday to you at 1207 in
[0:15] Speaker 1: the West. It's the John Phillips Show. Mr. Randy Wiggs
[0:18] Speaker 1: in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
[0:20] Speaker 2: And Johnny.
[0:46] Speaker 2: We are a little more than three weeks away from
[0:50] Speaker 2: Election Day, and as of right now, 1% of Californians
[0:55] Speaker 2: have returned their ballot.
[0:57] Speaker 1: Check out your outfits. Who are you, Vanna White?
[1:01] Speaker 2: The chat is always commenting about my outfits.
[1:06] Speaker 1: I didn't know you were the fashionista. Today it's Banana Republic,
[1:10] Speaker 1: because I can wear cold weather clothes in Santa Fe.
[1:16] Speaker 1: 800-222-5222 is telephone number 1-800-222-5222. Well, we have yet more
[1:26] Speaker 1: drama involving California's non-existent high-speed rail. And Randy, last week
[1:33] Speaker 1: we spent some time talking about 1990s daytime TV and
[1:37] Speaker 1: how wild it used to get. These next reports kind
[1:41] Speaker 1: of remind me of 1990s daytime TV.
[1:45] Speaker 2: That's because you had kind of a superhero team-up going
[1:50] Speaker 2: on in the Capitol where Ashley Zavala of KCRA3 and
[1:55] Speaker 2: Julie Watts of CBS News Investigates were both trying to
[1:59] Speaker 2: chase down the CEO of High Speed Rail, Ian Chowdhury,
[2:03] Speaker 2: to answer questions for why, in newly released documents, we're
[2:08] Speaker 2: paying for Uber rides from consultants not just to go
[2:12] Speaker 2: to escape rooms and not just to go to cigar lounges,
[2:16] Speaker 2: But we paid for Uber rides for these consultants as
[2:19] Speaker 2: they were leaving Ian Chowdhury's house after midnight after some party.
[2:24] Speaker 1: So you know they were all blowing a point, too.
[2:28] Speaker 2: And, of course, Ian Chowdhury didn't want to answer any questions,
[2:32] Speaker 2: so we have video of him on KCRA 3 and
[2:35] Speaker 2: CBS LA running from the press.
[2:39] Speaker 1: Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
[2:41] Speaker 2: Let's start with the Zavala piece, but I think we're
[2:43] Speaker 2: going to get to both of them because they are
[2:45] Speaker 2: both excellent pieces. But here is KCRA 3 and what
[2:50] Speaker 2: happened on Friday.
[2:51] Speaker 3: Today, the High Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors voted
[2:53] Speaker 3: to strip some power from the project's CEO.
[2:56] Speaker 4: Now, the project's inspector general found the authority allowed consultants
[2:59] Speaker 4: to waste taxpayer money on questionable travel expenses like first-class
[3:03] Speaker 4: travel and international trips not allowed.
[3:06] Speaker 3: And our KCRA 3 political director, Ashley Zavala, tried to
[3:09] Speaker 3: talk to the CEO today. Were you able to talk
[3:12] Speaker 3: with him?
[3:13] Speaker 4: No, and I.
[3:15] Speaker 1: Of course not. because then he would be asked some
[3:18] Speaker 1: very uncomfortable questions.
[3:21] Speaker 5: As you both know, we've really been trying to speak
[3:23] Speaker 5: with him, especially after these board meetings where key decisions
[3:26] Speaker 5: are made. The High Speed Rail Board of Directors agreed
[3:29] Speaker 5: to limit some of CEO Ian Chowdhury's power. Moving forward,
[3:33] Speaker 5: the board says there will be more oversight and another
[3:36] Speaker 5: layer of approval from state attorneys before the High Speed
[3:38] Speaker 5: Rail CEO and the rest of his agency finalize contracts
[3:41] Speaker 5: and approve any spending. The action comes as the assembly's
[3:44] Speaker 5: Republican leader, Alexandra Macedo, sent a letter to the High
[3:47] Speaker 5: Speed Rail Board calling for the immediate termination of CEO Chaudhry. Now,
[3:52] Speaker 5: the board didn't go that far, but they did hold
[3:54] Speaker 5: this special meeting on a recent report from the Projects
[3:58] Speaker 5: Inspector General, which found the authority was reimbursing four consulting
[4:02] Speaker 5: firms for questionable travel expenses.
[4:04] Speaker 1: So this is what they're doing. This high-speed rail authority
[4:09] Speaker 1: is just another version of one of those phony baloney
[4:11] Speaker 1: homeless charities. It needs to go on forever so they
[4:16] Speaker 1: can live like kings forever. And they're never going to
[4:18] Speaker 1: complete the project, just like the homeless groups are never
[4:21] Speaker 1: going to solve the problem, because if they do, they
[4:24] Speaker 1: go away.
[4:26] Speaker 2: The High Speed Rail Authority is the retirement home for
[4:29] Speaker 2: termed-out politicians, and they get to make all of their
[4:33] Speaker 2: friends and consultants and union buddies rich by continuing this project,
[4:38] Speaker 2: even though it's not anywhere close to even starting when
[4:42] Speaker 2: you're talking about laying down the track.
[4:44] Speaker 5: Three hours, the board heard from the project's watchdog and
[4:47] Speaker 5: separately the authority about this report. The inspector general has
[4:51] Speaker 5: told us that there is a culture in the high-speed
[4:53] Speaker 5: rail authority that allowed these consultants to think that this
[4:57] Speaker 5: was okay in the first place.
[5:01] Speaker 2: This is just business as usual for all kinds of
[5:04] Speaker 2: contracts in California, where the consulting class, you don't know
[5:09] Speaker 2: what they do, And they get paid millions and millions
[5:12] Speaker 2: of dollars, not just for what they officially do, but
[5:15] Speaker 2: they get to write off all kinds of nonsense.
[5:18] Speaker 1: Is that Lynn Schenck? I can't read that.
[5:21] Speaker 2: Yes, it is.
[5:23] Speaker 1: Okay. She is a former congresswoman from San Diego, and
[5:27] Speaker 1: I think she worked for Gray Davis.
[5:30] Speaker 2: It's a retirement home for termed-out politicians.
[5:33] Speaker 5: The CEO, Ian Chowdhury, announced today some project consultants are
[5:36] Speaker 5: facing disciplinary action. He's also vowing to put in new
[5:40] Speaker 5: controls to prevent this from happening in the future. As
[5:43] Speaker 5: the board went into closed session, we tried to speak
[5:46] Speaker 5: with Chowdhury. So, Chowdhury, do you just have, like, I
[5:50] Speaker 5: know the board is, but your team.
[5:52] Speaker 1: Is telling us.
[5:53] Speaker 5: Are you going?
[5:54] Speaker 1: Look at this.
[5:54] Speaker 2: On the left, you got Ashley, and on the right,
[5:56] Speaker 2: you got Julie Watts. They're tailing him.
[5:58] Speaker 1: That is the all-star team right there.
[6:01] Speaker 6: You're going into that closed session?
[6:03] Speaker 1: Yes.
[6:04] Speaker 5: Okay, will you come out?
[6:04] Speaker 7: After the closed session, sir? He's told us no, but
[6:08] Speaker 7: we're asking you directly.
[6:09] Speaker 1: Excuse me, we're going to.
[6:11] Speaker 8: Mr.
[6:12] Speaker 5: Chowdhury is a public employee, and the taxpayers deserve to
[6:16] Speaker 5: hear from him.
[6:17] Speaker 2: This does kind of remind me of Maury when it's
[6:19] Speaker 2: not the father and the mother goes and runs backstage.
[6:23] Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. Oh, the cameras always follow them.
[6:27] Speaker 2: I don't have time to do it. Maybe I'll do
[6:29] Speaker 2: it during the break, but I feel like I need
[6:31] Speaker 2: to put a new poll. Does Ian Chowdhury wear a wig?
[6:35] Speaker 5: So we have a right to ask him.
[6:39] Speaker 7: If you can't hear it clearly, Julie is asking.
[6:50] Speaker 2: Why you have consultants paying for fancy rideshares from your
[6:56] Speaker 2: house at 1 a.m.
[6:58] Speaker 1: And just wait, because this guy's communications person, who's a big,
[7:04] Speaker 1: bald Karen, inserts himself into this conversation and tries to
[7:08] Speaker 1: tell the ladies to shut up. paid for by.
[7:13] Speaker 7: consulting your house.
[7:17] Speaker 9: Mr.
[7:17] Speaker 5: Chaudhry, what is your response to the calls for you
[7:19] Speaker 5: to resign?
[7:20] Speaker 7: Sir, we would have loved to have just done a
[7:22] Speaker 7: sit-down interview.
[7:22] Speaker 1: We're just getting to the closed session now.
[7:25] Speaker 4: Right.
[7:26] Speaker 2: That doesn't even acknowledge them, won't even look them in
[7:28] Speaker 2: the eye, just running any way he can because, of course,
[7:32] Speaker 2: everything this jackass does is so important.
[7:35] Speaker 1: He's looking for an escape.
[7:37] Speaker 7: For a sit-down interview, we don't have to chase you around.
[7:40] Speaker 1: Excuse me, I need to do a direct inquiry on
[7:42] Speaker 1: the closed session.
[7:42] Speaker 6: What do I need to do?
[7:45] Speaker 1: So the bald guy that he was talking to there,
[7:47] Speaker 1: that's the Karen that does the communications for the high
[7:50] Speaker 1: speed rail. And what he says is put in a
[7:53] Speaker 1: request and we'll review it. And they go, we have
[7:56] Speaker 1: been putting in requests and you won't make this guy
[7:58] Speaker 1: available to us. And he goes, well, put in another one.
[8:02] Speaker 5: Provide some clarity there. Chaudhry is facing questions about his
[8:05] Speaker 5: role in that spending. Now, at the end of the clip,
[8:08] Speaker 5: you see the High Speed Rail Authority's new head of
[8:10] Speaker 5: external affairs, Matt Rocco, take him aside before Chaudhry walked
[8:14] Speaker 5: back into the auditorium to just get away from us.
[8:19] Speaker 2: This is why they want the Capitol Annex, everyone, so
[8:22] Speaker 2: they have all these secret hallways that are ways to
[8:25] Speaker 2: escape from Ashley Zavala.
[8:27] Speaker 5: Now, Rocco would not explain why Chaudhry couldn't just take
[8:30] Speaker 5: a few questions from reporters. Once the meeting officially ended,
[8:34] Speaker 5: we heard from the chairman of the high-speed rail board,
[8:37] Speaker 5: Steve Kava.
[8:38] Speaker 8: In closed session, we had a vigorous discussion, and we
[8:41] Speaker 8: approved that resolution. That adds an additional eyes and ears
[8:47] Speaker 8: and authority over approving issues with the high-speed rail contracts.
[8:53] Speaker 2: That's high-speed rail ease for we're going to hire even
[8:56] Speaker 2: more bureaucrats.
[8:57] Speaker 1: This guy sounds like he belongs on a stool over
[9:00] Speaker 1: at Cheers.
[9:01] Speaker 8: All the things that I just mentioned.
[9:03] Speaker 6: Has Mr.
[9:03] Speaker 1: Chaudhry lost the trust of some board members?
[9:06] Speaker 8: Well, as I said today, you can see from our
[9:09] Speaker 8: actions today, this board is taking seriously the issues that
[9:12] Speaker 8: this authority is dealing with. And what the public is seeing,
[9:15] Speaker 8: they're seeing a board that is very active, that is
[9:18] Speaker 8: committed to make sure that we are doing right by
[9:20] Speaker 8: the taxpayers of California.
[9:22] Speaker 2: Then where's the train?
[9:24] Speaker 1: Yeah, there is no train. There is no track. There
[9:27] Speaker 1: is no completion date.
[9:30] Speaker 8: For them and for the authority to work.
[9:32] Speaker 6: On this authority.
[9:34] Speaker 5: Kava told us they intend to claw back the misused
[9:38] Speaker 5: money identified in the inspector general's report from those four
[9:41] Speaker 5: consulting firms.
[9:42] Speaker 1: I will name that. You're going to have to get
[9:44] Speaker 1: those dollars out of the strippers G string.
[9:46] Speaker 2: And that was just a little window into what was
[9:49] Speaker 2: going on here because the inspector general's report only looked
[9:52] Speaker 2: at four consultants and only about six months worth of activity.
[9:55] Speaker 2: These consultants and these trade unions, they've been doing this
[9:58] Speaker 2: for years and years and years.
[10:00] Speaker 10: Years.
[10:00] Speaker 5: Them again, that is KPMG, the accountants, Nossaman LLP, the
[10:05] Speaker 5: legal services, Sistra Tipsa, and Acomflor, which are part of
[10:10] Speaker 5: some of the infrastructure and architectural work that's going on
[10:13] Speaker 5: with this project.
[10:14] Speaker 4: So the heat is getting turned up, not just from
[10:16] Speaker 4: your questions, but it appears the board members, too, turning
[10:18] Speaker 4: up the heat on the CEO there. I'm just curious.
[10:20] Speaker 4: I mean, we're talking about all these consultants. How much
[10:22] Speaker 4: money has been spent on all of these consultants?
[10:25] Speaker 5: Yeah, that was really the question overhanging this entire special meeting. Really,
[10:30] Speaker 5: the board, or excuse me, the high-speed rail authority could
[10:33] Speaker 5: not provide that figure today when board members asked.
[10:36] Speaker 2: We are learning... Shouldn't that be a very simple search
[10:40] Speaker 2: of the files? Okay, how much money have you spent
[10:42] Speaker 2: on a train?
[10:43] Speaker 1: None.
[10:44] Speaker 2: How much have you spent on tracks? None. How much
[10:46] Speaker 2: have you spent on consultants? All of it.
[10:49] Speaker 1: Well, the whole point of this is not to build
[10:51] Speaker 1: a train that we can use. The whole point of
[10:53] Speaker 1: this is to keep it going forever so they can
[10:56] Speaker 1: live like rappers.
[10:58] Speaker 5: That just those four companies that I listed, between 2024
[11:02] Speaker 5: and 2026, taxpayers have spent $ 253 million total. High Speed
[11:08] Speaker 5: Rail Authority board members acknowledged spending on consultants in this
[11:12] Speaker 5: project overall is in the billions of dollars. And I
[11:15] Speaker 5: did ask Kava, is there an appetite to get a
[11:18] Speaker 5: better sense of how this money is being used? And
[11:20] Speaker 5: he said, absolutely, that I mean, any dollar that is
[11:23] Speaker 5: wasted needs to be looked into. So more on this discussion,
[11:26] Speaker 5: it sounds like, coming from the high-speed rail.
[11:28] Speaker 3: I mean, that's our hard-earned money.
[11:29] Speaker 1: Which, by the way, is totally disingenuous. If they wanted
[11:33] Speaker 1: to make sure that the money wasn't being wasted, they
[11:36] Speaker 1: would make sure that the auditor has all of the
[11:39] Speaker 1: personnel that he needs, all of the equipment that he needs,
[11:42] Speaker 1: so he could properly do his job. Instead of doing that,
[11:46] Speaker 1: they starve that office so they don't have the tools
[11:49] Speaker 1: to do a proper audit.
[11:50] Speaker 2: It cost $ 2 million for the inspector general to buy
[11:54] Speaker 2: a $ 300, 000 piece of software because the state made it
[11:58] Speaker 2: that hard.
[11:59] Speaker 3: That as California taxpayers, we've spent and we're just trying
[12:02] Speaker 3: to get answers. And if maybe he would just sit
[12:04] Speaker 3: down and answer them, I don't know why you got
[12:05] Speaker 3: to look for an exit door. Just answer the question.
[12:07] Speaker 1: Right.
[12:08] Speaker 5: We're not talking about.
[12:09] Speaker 2: They don't think they have to answer any of the questions.
[12:14] Speaker 2: So that's what's going on at KCRA 3, but it
[12:18] Speaker 2: wasn't just Ashley chasing him down the hallway. Let's see
[12:21] Speaker 2: what Julie Watts had to say. Here is CBS LA.
[12:23] Speaker 7: I mean, could you make time to sit down or
[12:26] Speaker 7: at least chat with the entire press corps here? Why
[12:29] Speaker 7: were California taxpayers billed for high-speed rail consultants to take
[12:34] Speaker 7: late-night rides back to their hotel rooms from the high-speed
[12:37] Speaker 7: rail CEO's home or nearby restaurants repeatedly, sometimes after 1 a.m.?
[12:44] Speaker 7: These are the questions we tried to ask the high-speed
[12:47] Speaker 7: rail CEO, but he didn't want to answer. Sir, can
[12:50] Speaker 7: you tell us why these consultants were taking midnight and
[12:53] Speaker 7: 1 a.m. rides home from your house?
[12:55] Speaker 2: Good question.
[12:57] Speaker 1: Isn't he the one that had all the domestic disputes
[13:00] Speaker 1: going on, too?
[13:02] Speaker 2: Yes. That's one of the reasons he refuses to do
[13:06] Speaker 2: an interview with Ashley Zavala.
[13:09] Speaker 7: Why they were going out to a steakhouse that you
[13:12] Speaker 7: frequent and driving home in Ubers paid for by taxpayers?
[13:17] Speaker 7: Why were these consultants at your house?
[13:18] Speaker 2: That is definitely a toupee.
[13:20] Speaker 1: Oh, my God. And a cheap one.
[13:24] Speaker 2: Looks like the one Les used to have.
[13:26] Speaker 1: It looks like something that just got killed in the
[13:28] Speaker 1: middle of the road.
[13:30] Speaker 7: House after midnight.
[13:31] Speaker 1: Mr.
[13:31] Speaker 5: Chaudhry, what is your response to the calls for you
[13:34] Speaker 5: to resign?
[13:35] Speaker 2: He looks dead in the eyes as he makes that
[13:38] Speaker 2: about face to run away from Ashley and Julie.
[13:41] Speaker 1: Dead in the eyes and lost, too.
[13:44] Speaker 7: Loved it just in a sit-down interview.
[13:45] Speaker 1: You think he's looking for the men's room? Because he's
[13:49] Speaker 1: not going to find it. This guy is going to
[13:51] Speaker 1: end up relieving himself in the broom closet.
[13:55] Speaker 7: If you want to offer us a sit-down interview, we
[13:57] Speaker 7: don't have to chase you around. High Speed Rail's head
[13:59] Speaker 7: of communications told us Chowdhury would not do interviews. I
[14:02] Speaker 7: think we have specific questions. Did you see our CBS
[14:05] Speaker 7: investigation that dropped today? We looked at the receipts. They
[14:08] Speaker 7: show Uber rides home from your house or after midnight.
[14:11] Speaker 7: These consultants billed those to taxpayers. Did you approve that?
[14:15] Speaker 7: Did you read our investigation?
[14:16] Speaker 2: So, Julie, we're going to, if you have any questions,
[14:18] Speaker 2: we'll hand direct them to you. Oh, there's the Karen.
[14:21] Speaker 1: Oh, here he is. He is a, on the scale
[14:24] Speaker 1: of Karen's, he's an 11 out of 10.
[14:27] Speaker 2: He's also an 11 out of 10 on the actual scale.
[14:30] Speaker 7: We did, in fact, direct detailed questions in writing to
[14:32] Speaker 7: the High Speed.
[14:33] Speaker 2: Rail Authority after whistleblowers gave us the receipts.
[14:36] Speaker 7: Behind the Inspector General's investigation. Since Ian Chowdhury took over
[14:56] Speaker 7: as CEO.
[14:56] Speaker 2: It's definitely a toupee.
[14:58] Speaker 1: Oh, 100%.
[15:02] Speaker 7: California's high-speed rail project has fallen farther behind schedule. Instead
[15:06] Speaker 7: of answering our questions, High Speed Rail sent a statement
[15:08] Speaker 7: saying it's tightening its travel oversight, updating reimbursement rules, and
[15:12] Speaker 7: requiring new training. Why didn't anyone on the board really
[15:15] Speaker 7: question Mr.
[15:16] Speaker 10: Chowdhury?
[15:17] Speaker 7: The High Speed Rail board chair didn't directly answer that question,
[15:21] Speaker 7: but he did agree the CEO should answer questions. Do
[15:23] Speaker 7: you think that the CEO... who you all have appointed,
[15:27] Speaker 7: who we are paying with taxpayer dollars, should actually speak
[15:31] Speaker 7: to the California Press Corps representing California taxpayers?
[15:35] Speaker 8: Yes, and I believe in communication.
[15:38] Speaker 7: Now, this is just the beginning of the series as
[15:40] Speaker 7: we dig through these receipts. examining consultant spending and influence
[15:45] Speaker 7: over California's multi-billion dollar high-speed rail project. Up next, we
[15:51] Speaker 7: ask the question, why is California paying to fly consultants
[15:55] Speaker 7: into work in Sacramento when they sign contracts promising they
[16:00] Speaker 7: live and work here? For CBS California Investigates, I'm Julie Watts.
[16:05] Speaker 1: Julie's not going to let this thing go anytime soon,
[16:07] Speaker 1: which is good news for us because the only check
[16:10] Speaker 1: that we have on the corrupt system that goes on
[16:13] Speaker 1: in Sacramento and the high-speed rail is emblematic of all
[16:16] Speaker 1: of it are the reporters like Ashley Zavala and Julie Watts.
[16:20] Speaker 1: And Ian Chowdhury should really consult with Ted Danson before
[16:24] Speaker 1: he buys his next rug. Because I don't know what
[16:28] Speaker 1: swap meet he got that one from, but he needs
[16:32] Speaker 1: a change immediately. in rugs in the worst possible way.
[16:41] Speaker 1: It might have been something that was used as carpet
[16:43] Speaker 1: on the set of the Brady Bunch. I don't know.
[16:48] Speaker 2: Thing might have a mind of its own.
[16:50] Speaker 1: How many times did Alice run the vacuum over that toupee?
[16:58] Speaker 1: With all the money he's making, that's what he ends
[17:01] Speaker 1: up with? How cheap is he? If you'd like to
[17:08] Speaker 1: watch us perform the show live, go to johnnydontlike.com and
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[17:17] Speaker 1: the chat is going off today.
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[17:32] Speaker 2: a picture, but they start talking. They start chatting about
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[18:33] Speaker 2: The Accountability Podcast with Part 2 coming out this week.
[18:37] Speaker 1: And Randy, coming up at the end of the month,
[18:39] Speaker 1: we're going to be on the road in San Francisco.
[18:41] Speaker 2: Oh, this is so exciting. Save the date. Friday, October 30th,
[18:46] Speaker 2: the John Phillips Show is headed to San Francisco. We're
[18:50] Speaker 2: going to be doing a live broadcast at Johnny Foley's
[18:54] Speaker 2: Irish Pub in Union Square, easily accessible by BART and Muni.
[18:58] Speaker 2: Anyone in the Bay Area should be getting down there.
[19:00] Speaker 2: We'll be there from noon to three. And we'll be
[19:02] Speaker 2: there with our friend Susan Shelley from the Howard Jarvis
[19:04] Speaker 2: Taxpayer Association talking about Proposition 43, the Local Taxpayer Protection Act.
[19:11] Speaker 2: Here's what we need you to do because we're going
[19:13] Speaker 2: to be talking about this every single day until Election Day.
[19:17] Speaker 2: Yes on 43 means it's harder to raise your taxes.
[19:20] Speaker 2: We need everyone watching and listening to spread that message
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[19:30] Speaker 2: Foley's in Union Square in San Francisco Friday, October 30th
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[19:38] Speaker 1: And do we have a giveaway today? Probably.
[19:42] Speaker 2: Let me see.
[19:43] Speaker 1: We also got to promote the uh, election day special.
[19:46] Speaker 1: We have, we do Bonnie Ray, Bonnie rate rate. Yeah.
[19:54] Speaker 2: Yeah. Let's do it right now. Seven 90 K ABC
[19:56] Speaker 2: welcomes Bonnie rate to the Hollywood Pantages theater on October 21st.
[20:01] Speaker 2: Tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.com or right now
[20:03] Speaker 2: calling number nine at one eight at eight, seven 95, two, two,
[20:06] Speaker 2: two gets a pair of tickets to the show. Tickets
[20:08] Speaker 2: furnished by Nederlander Concerts. Good luck dialing.
[20:13] Speaker 1: Nithya Raman could be the first DSA mayor in the
[20:17] Speaker 1: history of the city of Los Angeles. According to recent polls,
[20:23] Speaker 1: she's in the driver's seat, which is leading a lot
[20:26] Speaker 1: of people to ask, what would she do and how
[20:28] Speaker 1: would she govern? One of the theories that is being
[20:32] Speaker 1: kicked around, including being asked of us, we got a
[20:35] Speaker 1: number of e-mails saying, saying if she wins the election,
[20:39] Speaker 1: is George Gascon going to be the next police chief?
[20:42] Speaker 10: Quite frankly.
[20:44] Speaker 2: It's interesting because I don't know how the rumor started,
[20:47] Speaker 2: but one morning our mailbox was flooded with people saying
[20:50] Speaker 2: that they heard that Nithya is going to fire McDonald
[20:53] Speaker 2: and put in this guy.
[20:54] Speaker 1: We got some Wallinies allies.
[20:57] Speaker 2: Which has led us to the new theory that we
[20:59] Speaker 2: think the person that started this rumor was George Gascon.
[21:03] Speaker 9: Do a Google on YouTube.
[21:05] Speaker 2: He wanted to get his name out there.
[21:08] Speaker 1: What has he done since he got kicked out of
[21:11] Speaker 1: office by voters? I haven't heard about him getting any
[21:14] Speaker 1: kind of big job. Maybe he's parking cars at the
[21:17] Speaker 1: Doubletree by the airport.
[21:18] Speaker 2: I think he walks his dog around his neighborhood because
[21:21] Speaker 2: one of our listeners says when he sees him, he
[21:23] Speaker 2: yells at.
[21:23] Speaker 1: Him and flips him off. And I love it.
[21:27] Speaker 2: So Nithya addressed the Gascon rumor and that bizarre video
[21:32] Speaker 2: she put out calling Karen Bass and Jim McDonald fascists
[21:36] Speaker 2: in a sit-down interview with NBC4' s Conan Nolan. This was
[21:40] Speaker 2: on Sunday's news conference.
[21:42] Speaker 4: Welcome back.
[21:42] Speaker 6: Talking to Nithya Raman, candidate for mayor of Los Angeles,
[21:45] Speaker 6: a member of the L.A. City Council.
[21:46] Speaker 2: So listen, we talked about public safety.
[21:49] Speaker 6: You did a video. You were part of a video
[21:51] Speaker 6: that has been since taken down where you referred to
[21:55] Speaker 6: that you would replace Jim McDonald.
[21:58] Speaker 2: As police chief. Or McDonald. Same thing. Now I'm hungry.
[22:03] Speaker 6: He's within the first two years of a five year term.
[22:06] Speaker 5: Yeah.
[22:07] Speaker 6: And right off the bat, there's since we're all online.
[22:11] Speaker 6: There are rumors that you would replace him with George Gascon.
[22:15] Speaker 10: The former district attorney. I'm not sure where those rumors
[22:17] Speaker 10: are coming from.
[22:18] Speaker 6: Would he have any role, like the police commission, anything?
[22:21] Speaker 10: I don't know George Gascon personally.
[22:24] Speaker 2: I don't know her. Is anyone buying that she has
[22:29] Speaker 2: no idea who George Gascon is?
[22:31] Speaker 1: No. No, they're on the same page. It would make
[22:36] Speaker 1: sense if she were to appoint George Gascon to be
[22:39] Speaker 1: the police chief. He doesn't believe in public safety, and
[22:42] Speaker 1: neither does she. They're two peas in a pod.
[22:46] Speaker 10: But, you know, yeah.
[22:50] Speaker 1: Right, okay.
[22:51] Speaker 10: Yeah.
[22:51] Speaker 2: Did she just short circuit again?
[22:54] Speaker 1: She did. She does that a lot.
[22:57] Speaker 10: Sorry, that was a question out of left field.
[23:00] Speaker 1: Well, you've seen the rumors.
[23:02] Speaker 2: You've seen it online. So let's talk a little bit
[23:05] Speaker 2: about this video. Why is she so visibly irked about
[23:07] Speaker 2: getting asked about Gascogne?
[23:09] Speaker 1: She has subsequently said that the police union was the
[23:13] Speaker 1: one that started that rumor. I believe it was Gascon
[23:18] Speaker 1: that started that rumor because he wants to get off unemployment. Look,
[23:22] Speaker 1: it's horrifying.
[23:24] Speaker 2: Yes, the thought of you as police chief would be.
[23:26] Speaker 1: Right.
[23:27] Speaker 2: It's the reason I never delete these drops.
[23:30] Speaker 6: You have taken it down. You asked the influencer to
[23:33] Speaker 6: take it down. But the comment at the very beginning was.
[23:40] Speaker 1: was somewhat odd.
[23:42] Speaker 2: Only you can stop fascist liars.
[23:45] Speaker 1: Oh boy. That is so pathetic.
[23:49] Speaker 9: Los Angeles has become extremely fascist, especially because Karen Bass
[23:54] Speaker 9: appointed Jim McDonald as the chief of police.
[23:57] Speaker 2: Who is this idiot? He is an influencer that has
[24:00] Speaker 2: way more followers than we do. That's why we need
[24:04] Speaker 2: you to subscribe to the channel. It's a battle for
[24:06] Speaker 2: information out there. This guy's got like 400,000 Instagrams, and
[24:10] Speaker 2: I'm not really sure what exactly his deal is outside
[24:13] Speaker 2: of calling everyone fascist.
[24:15] Speaker 9: Especially for the immigrant community that's watching, what is your
[24:19] Speaker 9: plan to de-fascistize this city?
[24:22] Speaker 2: This is the video that she claims is deceptively edited.
[24:25] Speaker 10: I think there's a lot that we can do to
[24:28] Speaker 10: make sure our LAPD is actually protecting people.
[24:32] Speaker 6: So he says this is an extremely fascist city. What
[24:38] Speaker 6: will you do to defascize Los Angeles? Remember, for the
[24:43] Speaker 6: younger audience, fascism is Rome under Benito Mussolini in World
[24:48] Speaker 6: War II. It's Berlin under Adolf Hitler in 1936. It's
[24:52] Speaker 6: Madrid under Francisco Franco, a dictator in Spain. You seem
[24:58] Speaker 6: to acquiesce with that point. You really don't believe Los
[25:00] Speaker 6: Angeles is a fashion city.
[25:01] Speaker 10: No, and actually, the video was edited to make it
[25:06] Speaker 10: seem as if I was answering a question about Mayor Bass.
[25:11] Speaker 1: No.
[25:12] Speaker 2: Sure.
[25:13] Speaker 1: That's what it was. The question was about Los Angeles. Well,
[25:16] Speaker 1: who's in charge of the city? Well, you have the mayor.
[25:20] Speaker 1: You have the police chief. You have the fire chief.
[25:23] Speaker 1: I guess you have the president of the city council.
[25:26] Speaker 1: That's who you were going after. Make no mistake.
[25:29] Speaker 10: Or about Chief McDonald. But in reality, my comments about
[25:33] Speaker 10: fascism were about ICE on our streets.
[25:35] Speaker 1: They're not fascists either, idiot.
[25:38] Speaker 10: Federal government, which particularly given some of the comments that
[25:42] Speaker 10: we're seeing in recent days and the actions that we've
[25:46] Speaker 10: seen by ICE just in the last couple of days
[25:48] Speaker 10: where 20 more people apparently have been kidnapped here in
[25:51] Speaker 10: the Los Angeles area.
[25:53] Speaker 2: We're still using that term?
[25:57] Speaker 10: You know, that word fascism, which is a heavy word,
[26:02] Speaker 10: it feels very real. People's constitution.
[26:04] Speaker 1: Well, so is communist, and you're one of those. Yeah,
[26:08] Speaker 1: but the woman she's running.
[26:09] Speaker 2: Against is one, too.
[26:11] Speaker 10: They're being violated.
[26:12] Speaker 2: She is awful. She is uniquely awful. The only way
[26:15] Speaker 2: she could win an election like this, if she was
[26:18] Speaker 2: running against Karen Bass.
[26:20] Speaker 1: Wasn't she educated in the Ivy League?
[26:24] Speaker 2: Yes, she went to Harvard and MIT and then went
[26:27] Speaker 2: to work at a homeless nonprofit.
[26:29] Speaker 1: She could barely string words together in coherent sentences. How
[26:34] Speaker 1: in the world did she graduate from one of those schools?
[26:37] Speaker 10: Being taken without warrants from their workplaces. They're being targeted
[26:43] Speaker 10: through technology like Palantir, which is, you know, identifying individuals.
[26:48] Speaker 10: People are swooping in and kidnapping them. And they're being
[26:50] Speaker 10: taken to detention centers where family can't find them, where
[26:54] Speaker 10: they don't have access to legal representation. This is the
[26:57] Speaker 10: very opposite of what it means to be an American,
[27:01] Speaker 10: for me, what it means to have the rights that
[27:03] Speaker 10: you have as an American. And for me, as an
[27:05] Speaker 10: immigrant to this country, As someone who is very patriotic.
[27:09] Speaker 1: So you're going to come over here and lecture the
[27:11] Speaker 1: rest of us on what it's like to be an American, huh?
[27:15] Speaker 10: I value so much what this country gave me and
[27:17] Speaker 10: my family. And to have those taken away by this
[27:19] Speaker 10: federal government, I think that is worth criticizing.
[27:22] Speaker 6: Right, but your accusation of the police chief was.
[27:25] Speaker 10: Sorry, but that was not what the.
[27:26] Speaker 1: Right, right, right.
[27:27] Speaker 2: Right, right, right. You didn't call him a fascist. Of
[27:29] Speaker 2: course not. That was just fake editing. Conan's not going
[27:33] Speaker 2: to let this go.
[27:33] Speaker 6: Right, so for the record... You weren't calling her the
[27:37] Speaker 6: mayor or the police chief a fascist.
[27:38] Speaker 10: I was not.
[27:39] Speaker 1: Yes, you were.
[27:40] Speaker 9: Yes, you were.
[27:40] Speaker 1: Yes, you were.
[27:45] Speaker 2: If Nithya wants to go with this claim that she
[27:48] Speaker 2: was deceptively edited, then let's see the raw footage. Let's
[27:52] Speaker 2: see where the editing happened.
[27:55] Speaker 10: As soon as we realized the interview with this influencer
[28:00] Speaker 10: was edited in a way to show that I was
[28:05] Speaker 10: saying something that I didn't say, we requested it be
[28:07] Speaker 10: taken down. It was taken down immediately.
[28:09] Speaker 1: That's after they okayed it as a collab video so
[28:12] Speaker 1: it would show up on their channel as well. If
[28:14] Speaker 1: you were taken out of context, Randy, you're exactly correct.
[28:17] Speaker 1: The answer is not to take it down. The answer
[28:20] Speaker 1: is to put the unedited footage up so you can
[28:25] Speaker 1: make your own decision as to whether or not she
[28:27] Speaker 1: was taken out of context or not.
[28:30] Speaker 2: And if I'm this influencer, I know he's in the
[28:32] Speaker 2: can for Nithya, but she's throwing this guy under the
[28:35] Speaker 2: bus constantly. He should put out the raw video.
[28:40] Speaker 6: But you did say in that, and you stood by
[28:42] Speaker 6: it in your statement afterwards... that you believe the police chief,
[28:46] Speaker 6: Jim McDonald, during the civil unrest, the protests a year ago,
[28:52] Speaker 6: protected ICE and not the people of Los Angeles. And he,
[28:57] Speaker 6: of course, would take great exception to that. And certainly
[29:01] Speaker 6: there have been lawsuits following. I bring this up because
[29:03] Speaker 6: there could be civil unrest in the future.
[29:05] Speaker 2: Sure, absolutely.
[29:06] Speaker 1: L.A.
[29:06] Speaker 2: Does like to riot.
[29:09] Speaker 1: And the Waymos take the brunt of it.
[29:11] Speaker 6: Probably will be because that's our history. So there were
[29:14] Speaker 6: lawsuits against the city. There was a federal judge who
[29:17] Speaker 6: reprimanded LAPD for not differentiating between those who were not
[29:23] Speaker 6: protesting violently and those who were.
[29:25] Speaker 1: Yes.
[29:26] Speaker 6: That said, it did turn violent. There were Molotov cocktails thrown,
[29:30] Speaker 6: rocks thrown, cars burned. And I'm just wondering, would you
[29:36] Speaker 6: have rather, if you had been the mayor, the LAPD
[29:39] Speaker 6: not to at all, just have the protests with the
[29:42] Speaker 6: ICE and National Guard facing off?
[29:44] Speaker 10: So, I want to just say that I believe so
[29:47] Speaker 10: much that the responsibility of a mayor and of a
[29:50] Speaker 10: city is to keep its residents safe. And there is nothing,
[29:53] Speaker 10: there's absolutely nothing that will get in the way of
[29:56] Speaker 10: me doing that if I am elected the mayor.
[29:58] Speaker 6: Of this city.
[29:59] Speaker 10: And I do that in my district. We work closely
[30:02] Speaker 10: with our LAPD partners. We've seen a sharp reduction in crime.
[30:05] Speaker 2: Are you serious, Nithya? Every other day on the news
[30:09] Speaker 2: is another break-in happening in either Sherman Oaks or Encino.
[30:14] Speaker 1: And see, this is something about commies. They think throwing
[30:18] Speaker 1: bricks at the cops is speech. is constitutionally protected speech.
[30:23] Speaker 1: She doesn't see that as law breaking. She says that
[30:26] Speaker 1: is making a point with the exclamation point being the brick.
[30:31] Speaker 10: In my district, and we work with them every single
[30:33] Speaker 10: day to deliver the results that Angelenos deserve. And that
[30:36] Speaker 10: is what I would fight for. And immigrants and protesters
[30:40] Speaker 10: deserve that as well.
[30:41] Speaker 2: I believe- How about the guy that was taking a
[30:44] Speaker 2: sledgehammer to the curb and then taking that piece of
[30:48] Speaker 2: concrete and throwing it at officers? Oh, she's all for that, too.
[30:52] Speaker 2: Got to protect that guy.
[30:53] Speaker 10: That there is no conflict between ensuring that Angelenos can
[30:56] Speaker 10: stay safe in this city and ensuring that we are
[30:59] Speaker 10: able to maintain people's First Amendment rights and to work
[31:03] Speaker 10: as hard as possible to keep them safe from the
[31:05] Speaker 10: actions of the federal government on our streets. And I
[31:08] Speaker 10: believe that striving for that goal... should be the goal
[31:11] Speaker 10: of this city, and I will continue to.
[31:12] Speaker 2: Strive for it.
[31:13] Speaker 6: Right, but specifically on this case, nobody died in these execs.
[31:19] Speaker 6: But they did die in Minnesota when there was no
[31:22] Speaker 6: civilian police force separating ICE with the protesters. And Jim
[31:26] Speaker 6: McDonald will say their effort was to be a buffer
[31:30] Speaker 6: and to protect the health and safety and the peace.
[31:34] Speaker 10: Yeah, so the protests were— there were incidents where ICE officers
[31:40] Speaker 10: were on the streets. And there were video that showed
[31:45] Speaker 10: that the role of LAPD in those instances appeared to
[31:49] Speaker 10: be protecting ICE as they were protesting. to undertaking their
[31:52] Speaker 10: activities in L.A., as opposed to protecting people who were
[31:56] Speaker 10: trying to escape or trying to push back against ISIS
[31:59] Speaker 10: actions on our streets.
[32:01] Speaker 1: Right.
[32:01] Speaker 6: And then you can't have the police fighting a federal agency. Absolutely.
[32:05] Speaker 10: But I think that you you can make sure.
[32:07] Speaker 2: Well, she uses that word more than Shangy.
[32:10] Speaker 1: Shang, you want to give her an assist?
[32:14] Speaker 7: Absolutely, absolutely.
[32:16] Speaker 10: Or that training is appropriate for these situations, that we're
[32:18] Speaker 10: dealing with the situation with the sensitivity that it requires.
[32:24] Speaker 10: And I do believe that requires us holding higher standards.
[32:27] Speaker 10: The other piece I want to underscore here, which was
[32:29] Speaker 10: a difference from the protest that we saw in 2020,
[32:32] Speaker 10: a difference under this police chief and a difference under
[32:34] Speaker 10: this mayor from the previous mayor and from the previous
[32:36] Speaker 10: police chief is that we responded to protesters on our
[32:39] Speaker 10: streets with tear gas.
[32:41] Speaker 2: Well- In 2020, Garcetti let Melrose burn. So maybe we
[32:46] Speaker 2: needed a course correction.
[32:48] Speaker 10: We tear gas protesters here in Los Angeles again, and
[32:51] Speaker 10: that was a choice that we made. And I, again,
[32:53] Speaker 10: I strongly believe that there are ways to deploy PD
[32:58] Speaker 10: at protests when they're getting unruly, that escalates when needed,
[33:02] Speaker 10: and that ensures that we're de-escalating as much as possible.
[33:05] Speaker 2: How do you de-escalate when the protester shoots a firework
[33:09] Speaker 2: in a police officer's face?
[33:12] Speaker 1: I don't see how they keep anyone in that job.
[33:16] Speaker 1: If you are a police officer and you have the
[33:18] Speaker 1: option of retiring early so you don't have to work
[33:22] Speaker 1: for this witch or the other one, why would you
[33:25] Speaker 1: stay on the job? Why would you not call it
[33:27] Speaker 1: quits and go do something else? Because you know she's
[33:30] Speaker 1: going to throw you under the bus the first opportunity
[33:33] Speaker 1: she gets.
[33:34] Speaker 10: Other cities have done it. These are proposals that have
[33:36] Speaker 10: come forward from the city council. And if I am mayor,
[33:40] Speaker 10: I will work closely with the police commission and the
[33:42] Speaker 10: police chief to make sure that this city is ready
[33:46] Speaker 10: should another instance arise like that.
[33:48] Speaker 6: Clarity, do you have anybody in mind for that job?
[33:51] Speaker 2: That's where they cut it off because I would assume
[33:53] Speaker 2: that's where she said, George Gascon.
[33:59] Speaker 1: Oh, L.A. is cooked. L.A. is cooked. Because as bad
[34:05] Speaker 1: as she is, Bass is just as bad.
[34:09] Speaker 2: So what you're saying, Johnny, is I should cancel my
[34:12] Speaker 2: return ticket and just stay here in Santa Fe?
[34:15] Speaker 1: It's so depressing. Second largest city in the country, and
[34:21] Speaker 1: this is what we come up with.
[34:24] Speaker 2: Yep.
[34:26] Speaker 1: If you want to watch us live, go to johnnydontlike.com
[34:29] Speaker 1: and click that like button. And if you haven't subscribed,
[34:32] Speaker 1: definitely Hit that subscribe button because, Randy, I think we
[34:36] Speaker 1: hit our number.
[34:38] Speaker 2: We are at now 8,887. Hey, one more and we'll
[34:42] Speaker 2: be 8,888. And that means that we now have more
[34:45] Speaker 2: subscribers than John Kobelt. We did it, everybody.
[34:49] Speaker 1: It's just bragging rights.
[34:52] Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. There's nothing wrong with this show. I
[34:55] Speaker 2: just want to be more popular.
[34:57] Speaker 1: The Fixed California Hour coming up after the news at 1.
[35:00] Speaker 1: We'll have a Sheng Tao update for you then. But first,
[35:05] Speaker 1: Nithya Raman had more to say to NBC's Conan Nolan,
[35:10] Speaker 1: including about her affiliation with the DSA.
[35:15] Speaker 6: Welcome back. Nithya Raman as a candidate for mayor of
[35:17] Speaker 6: Los Angeles. So getting back to police, there are about 86,000, what.
[35:23] Speaker 1: 8,600 officers.
[35:25] Speaker 6: The police chief says that by the time the Olympics
[35:27] Speaker 6: show up, we'll be down to 7,500. We promised the
[35:31] Speaker 6: International Olympic Committee we'd bid her up $ 12, 000.
[35:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, Garcetti was a big fat liar.
[35:37] Speaker 1: Not even close.
[35:39] Speaker 10: Yes, and I think we'll have to work with regional
[35:42] Speaker 10: law enforcement partners to ensure that we're able to get
[35:45] Speaker 10: the personnel that we need. But overall, I would have
[35:48] Speaker 10: said in the past that we need to do everything
[35:50] Speaker 10: that we can to ensure that we're able to answer
[35:52] Speaker 10: 911 calls as effectively as possible, to respond to crime
[35:55] Speaker 10: as effectively as possible. And that means... maintaining the size
[35:59] Speaker 10: of our police force. That requires personnel reforms. This mayor
[36:03] Speaker 10: has given lip service to those reforms. Those are things
[36:05] Speaker 10: that I would be looking to implement as quickly as possible.
[36:08] Speaker 5: If I were elected.
[36:09] Speaker 8: Right.
[36:09] Speaker 6: So that gets back to your membership in the Democratic
[36:12] Speaker 6: Socialists of America. You said that you joined because of
[36:18] Speaker 6: tenant protections and tenants' rights. The argument is you could
[36:21] Speaker 6: be a Democrat and do that. You're part of an
[36:24] Speaker 6: organization that believes in defunding police to get rid of police.
[36:28] Speaker 6: They believe in opening up the jails and getting rid
[36:31] Speaker 6: of any kind of incarceration. They believe in opening up
[36:34] Speaker 6: the U.S.-Mexico border, just opening it up. Your biggest supporter
[36:39] Speaker 6: at city halls, Kenneth Mejia, the city controller, who campaigned
[36:42] Speaker 6: on defunding police, and you sent out a text a
[36:45] Speaker 6: few years ago, defund police.
[36:47] Speaker 2: What does it say when everything that Conan said is 100%
[36:50] Speaker 2: true and she's leading in the polls?
[36:54] Speaker 1: Again, the problem is not the electeds. The problem is
[36:57] Speaker 1: the electorate. The electorate is looking at her and looking
[37:01] Speaker 1: at that platform and going, yeah, she'd be a great mayor.
[37:05] Speaker 6: So how are we to trust you that the real
[37:07] Speaker 6: goal here, I mean, if you were in the Heritage Foundation,
[37:10] Speaker 6: we'd be asking you about Project 2025, which we asked
[37:13] Speaker 6: President Trump about. And he said, oh, I don't know
[37:15] Speaker 6: anything about it. And then it became the playbook.
[37:17] Speaker 2: For the White House.
[37:18] Speaker 10: Well, those things that you mentioned are not my beliefs.
[37:20] Speaker 10: My beliefs have been fairly clear throughout this campaign.
[37:23] Speaker 1: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. You
[37:27] Speaker 1: sent the text message out. saying defund the police. That
[37:31] Speaker 1: was you.
[37:33] Speaker 10: I believe that they are a part of a big, broad,
[37:36] Speaker 10: progressive coalition here in Los Angeles that I have built
[37:40] Speaker 10: before my first election and continue to grow during my
[37:42] Speaker 10: time in office. And when you are running against an
[37:45] Speaker 10: establishment politics that has brought us to this broken status quo,
[37:48] Speaker 10: you have to build the biggest, broadest coalition possible. And
[37:52] Speaker 10: that is exactly what I have done.
[37:54] Speaker 2: We need the communists. We need the socialists. We need
[37:57] Speaker 2: the anarchists. We need them all.
[37:59] Speaker 1: God help us.

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